ON SATURDAYS WE HUNT // STYLEHUNT AT THE BIN GALLERY EXHIBITION

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Today I hooked up with my girl and lifestyle blogger Akona of http://akmosaic.blogspot.com, yes click on the link and go check it out skattie. We went on a bit of a style hunt together, and skattie it was too much bloody fun, Akona has a wicked eye for interesting detail, as can be seen by interesting bits she led my lens to on the pics above, btw she is the one with the sink plug earrings right at the top. Don’t you just love them, come on admit. Anyway, our hunt led us to The Bin Gallery exhibition at the adidas sponsored Three Stories in Woodstock. The terminally hip amongst you will remember The Bin gallery and lifestyle store from back in the day, this show was organized to pay homage to the original store. If you do not know the original store, what can I say my skat, askies, kak happens. I have many gifts but reversing the hands of time is not one of then, if you never got to know The Bin back in the day, you will never get another opportunity to, so the best you can do for yourself is to enjoy the pics above so you can get a feel for the kind of style The Bin attracted, or least the style that is attracted to the idea of the old Bin.

CHURCH

Today’s sermon is gonna be about Love my skat, specifically 3 things I love, namely Interesting spaces, stylish skattiez and Cape Town’s undying commitment to fahhhhbulosity, not the crass fabulousness that leans heavily on what brand you can buy into, but rather an almost quiet and yet assertive fab that comes from an intimate and deeply rooted relationship with all things aesthetic. Late Friday afternoon at Church was a beautiful combo of my three loves, throw in my fourth and most beloved of all, free dop, and the spirit takes me. Anyway, my abusive relationship with alcohol aside, for all y’all that don’t know, Church is a gift shop on Spin street in Cape Town, around the corner from parliament and next to that other fabulous space ‘Bread, Milk and Honey’. I am so in love with the space I struggle to come with just the right kind of words to describe it, so I’m not gonna try, visit it or at the least click here to visit their website. I’ve taken a couple of pics of the shop to try and give you an idea. It is really beautiful with very cool and stunning pieces. My birthday is on the 8^th of November btw. I was there today to attend their launch of Wonderwood, the new COMME des GARCONS fragrance. Now Skattie, I am not trained in art of fragrance mixing, so I can’t say much except to say that I like it and a certain someone who loves me very much better open that wallet and get drastic with the plastic.  

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY AGAIN // MY 3RD & MOST SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT @ FINDING INTERESTING PERSONAL STYLE AMONGST THEATRE-GOERS

Two nights in a row, I am definitely getting my fair share of theatre this week, thanks to my very good friend, the theatre diva Faniswa Yisa, and skattie the diva thing is not just me exaggerating, nor am I the first to write that about her, just about every piece she has performed in over the last few years has gone on to win multiple awards. I’ve given you the introduction, I’ve done my bit in the fight against ignorance, now run with it, google her. Btw, she is the one in the purple dress in this post and in the ink jacket with the pink purse in the post below. Anyway, Fani called me up, and made sure I got my fill of theatre over the last two nights. Tonight’s show is called Ezethu, a show about Indigenous Xhosa Ceremonial Songs and Dance, it is bloody fantastic, full on energy and just so so……just go see it for yourself Skattie. A special bonus for me was that it was co-directed by Mandla Mbothwe and I am a huge fan of his work and the visually arresting multimedia techniques he always brings to the stage. There is always something visceral about his plays, to the point where even if you do not understand the language, you would still get it. Whoa! Listen to me, going all theatre authority on you, askies Skat, when I see work that touches me I sommer just get so carried away. Back to the style, ja hey, compare it to my two other theatre posts and I think we can safely say ‘well done’ to these theatre-goers.

A SECOND ATTEMPT AT FINDING STRONG PERSONAL STYLE AMONGST THE THESPIANS WITH A GENEROUS HELPING OF RUDIMENTARY PHOTOSHOP CHEESE

I love that title, sounds clever, atleast I think so, and if  you're judging me for my cheesy photoshop tricks, you can stop right now, it’s not like you’ve never an idea that you knew was shit but still carried on with it anyway. Whateverrr. Last time I went to the Baxter theatre was for the Fleur Du Kak Theatre awards, I went in search of personal style, what I found was a bunch of people who dressed as though they found the very notion of style to be unbearable, they literally went out of their way to look as aesthetically unpleasing as possible. I posted about it, I was not very kind and rightfully so, they looked really shit, click here if you have not seen that post, infact even if you’ve seen it click anyway so you can point and laugh. With my new camera in hand I went searching again last night, and I must say it was a much better fashion performance than last time. Don’t get me wrong, this was no fashion week, but there were some gems and I am a patient man, so I looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked until I found these interesting bits in the colour/accessory department. I really like how these culture vultures used colour and accessories to create stylish interest in their looks. What was even more interesting was the performance for the night. It was the opening night of a one woman show titled “BORDER/CLASH: A LITANY OF DESIRES” by Jamaican born  New York resident poet/performance artist Staceyann Chin (the face in colour in the pics above, and with the hair in the pic above that one). I normally try not to comment on the art or performances as that is not my area of expertise, but I loved every moment of her performance, it reminded me why I used to like the poetry scene back in the early noughties, she has an amazing way with words. Admittedly, she does come across as being a little bit on the angry side of lesbian, but it so justified and delivered with sharp humour. Anyway, google her, google the show, then get off your ass and go see the show, and for goodness sake put something interesting on. Do it for me, do it for yourself, do it for Donatella Versace, fukkit do it for your dog, just do it.. 

SKATTIE DOES SOCIETY // PARTYING IT UP AT PENTHOUSE SUITE ONE @ THE ONE AND ONLY

Firstly, about the venue: Okay, a bit of background. The ABCs, I think I can safely  assume you know what the One & Only is, and then of course you should also know who Sol Kerzner is. Now, on top of his One & Only hotel, Mr Kerzner has built 3 Penthouses, worth around a R100 million each, I spent Monday evening in Penthouse 1. Now Skattie I’m not gonna go on and on about it, seriously, it’s a R100million rand penthouse on top of the One & Only, of course it’s bloody fabulous, cherry on top btw, Mr Kerzner himself was in attendance.

This one has been a little bit tricky for me, I posted these pics in the early hours of Tuesday morning after I got back from the event, and I promised a write-up the following day, it’s almost three days later and I’m only getting to it now. It’s not that I have had the time, I just did not know where to start. It’s a tricky one because of the combination of images, on the one hand there is Lindiwe Suttle whose style I am a big fan of, this woman never misses a beat when it comes to style, no seriously, never!!! This night was no different, and to top it all off she gave what was the most energetic performance of hers I have ever seen, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you are not familiar with her music, style or performances, you need to start educating yourself. To help kickstart that education click here to see my previous post on her and then again here for her contribution to the blog.  There were some other stylish people, and then there was the bling crowd for whom diamonds or diamante offer an answer to every fashion question (I look rich, of course I’m stylish). And then there was the whole venue thing. Grand displays of wealth can be rather seductive, and can mess with one’s senses when trying to separate the stylish from the un. The pictures are here, make your own decisions.